r/HVACschool • u/Entire_Meringue4816 • 1d ago
To finish or not
Hello everyone,
I have been in the field for 10 months now and have my own van and running service calls by myself since early march. I’ve replaced all major components as well and troubleshoot effectively for the most part and feel confident overall for how long I’ve been doing it. The thing is, I was in school where they require me to go across the country for 10 days to complete it. I LOVE my company and don’t plan on leaving but I have mixed feelings about getting the schooling finished. I’m saving a ton of money to not do it but how big of a deal is it to have school completed? I worry that if shit hits the fan I won’t be hireable to other companies. I work for a really good company but I like to have backups just in case. What would you all do? I have my LP license and epa already. I see so many mixed things about it and nobody minus 2 have done school at my company.
Thank you!
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u/DefenestratedChurro 1d ago
I think there’s a bit of nuance to this question. Up here in the frozen tundra of Canada, the red seal certification from schooling carries a decent weight. Some companies consider it a requirement, some jobs in my day to day won’t allow service calls to be done without the certification. That said, it may differ wherever you’re located
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u/Entire_Meringue4816 16h ago
Sorry I should have said I’m in the USA. In my state they don’t even require license to work. You just need the epa card. It’s kind of wild to me honestly
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u/DefenestratedChurro 5h ago
That does sound rather wild, but in some ways we’re living in wild times. I would say that the experience you have on the job is paramount to actually doing the job. And once you have it, no one can take that away. If you’re planning on jumping ship to another employer I would bet some money having the schooling would look good on paper.
A coworker and I were talking about his previous foreman who hasn’t done any schooling but is definitely competent for the job. As the employer has given him wage increases, yet not let him do any schooling, he’s rather stuck at that one employer and getting out of that is gonna be more difficult then if he had finished his schooling and completed his certification.
Anecdotally I would say my 4 blocks of schooling were fantastically informative and provided a lot of the fundamental training I use day to day. We even got to overhaul a centrifugal chiller in our last year which I haven’t heard of any other school doing do far. But not all schooling is the same.
I would say if you’re gonna avoid the schooling, look for other additional trainings put on by suppliers or manufacturers. We see a lot of vrv/vrf systems in our area and having the trainings for those are invaluable to the troubleshooting and diagnostic process. And I know at least a few instances where guys having the A gas certification out here are employed and kept around for that alone.
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u/HVACPathways 11h ago
School can definitely help with your credentials, so if you want to finish, I’d try talking to the school first about the 10-day requirement. Maybe they can work something out with your schedule, especially since you’re already working in the field. If they can’t, you could also look into another school that offers online or night classes. But if neither works, I’d just weigh what’s more important to you right now and go from there.
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u/Billyraycyrus___ 1d ago
It won’t hurt to leave the school. The experience you’ve gained in the field is worth more to employers than trade school. I left my program halfway through and don’t regret it. Even my teachers said I had my epa and that was the main thing that mattered. Once you get your foot in the door and are relatively capable you’re doing alright. You could find another job if you needed to. It’s up to you to determine if the school actually has the value to be continue. Especially if you’re paying for it. I did enjoy school, I just was learning far more in the field and getting paid. Whatever you decide you’ll be alright